Gonzalez got the ball in the top of the first inning and Kike Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Hunter Renfroe launched his 28th home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Xander Bogaerts flied out to left and Rafael Devers grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
28th jack for Renfroe
Houck got the ball in the bottom of the first and JP Crawford grounded out to second to start. Mitch Haniger lined out to right and Kyle Seager grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the second as JD Martinez flied out to right to start. Kyle Schwarber walked and Bobby Dalbec pounded a ground rule double into the stands. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to first to score Schwarber and Jose Iglesias smacked a double to center to score Dalbec. Hernandez lined out to left to end the inning with the Sox up 3-0.
Ty France struck out swinging to open the bottom of the second before Abraham Toro grounded back to Houck. Jake Fraley grounded out to second to end the inning.
Gonzalez turned up the heat for the top of the third as Renfroe struck out swinging to start. Bogaerts and Devers also went down hacking to end the inning. The Mariners fought back in the bottom of the third as Luke Torrens struck out swinging to start. Jarred Kelenic got a base hit to center and Tom Murphy got a base hit to right. Kelenic tried for third and Renfroe threw the ball away for an error to score Jarred. Crawford walked and a wild pitch moved the runners over. Haniger lined out to short but Seager doubled to left to score both runners and tie the game. France whiffed to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Mariners tie it up
Martinez flied out to right to start the top of the fourth and Schwarber struck out swinging. Dalbec also went down hacking to end the inning. Toro struck out swinging to start the bottom of the fourth before Fraley watched strike three go by. Torrens swung at air to end the inning.
Plawecki grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth but Iglesias drew a walk. Hernandez flied out to left and Renfroe flied out to right to end the inning. Dr. Quick Hook struck again in the bottom of the fifth as Kelenic got a base hit to center to start. Kelenic stole second but Murphy was rung up for strike three. Rather than let Houck finish the inning, Sox manager Alex Cora pulled him after just 4 1/3 innings forcing the bullpen to throw more than four innings AGAIN. Houck allowed 3 runs before getting the hook. Josh Taylor got Crawford to ground out to second but Kelenic moved to third. Haniger was intentionally walked and Seager grounded out to short to end the inning.
Bogaerts took strike three to start the top of the sixth before Devers grounded out to second. Martinez whiffed to end the inning. Garrett Richards came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and France lined a ball off of him for a single. Toro grounded into a double play and Fraley struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally against Casey Sadler to start the top of the seventh as Schwarber flied out to right to start. Dalbec walked but Plawecki took strike three. Dalbec stole second and Iglesias beat out a roller to first to put runners at the corners. Paul Sewald came in to face Hernandez but Alex Verdugo pinch hit for him. Verdugo lined out to left to end the inning. Torrens singled in the hole at short to start the bottom of the seventh but Kelenic flied out to center. Dylan More pinch ran for Torrens and Murphy grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Renfroe grounded back to the mound to start the top of the eighth before Bogaerts took strike three. Devers walked and Martinez reached on catcher's interference. Schwarber flied out to center to end the inning. Austin Davis came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Crawford flied out to right to start. Devers threw a grounder by Haniger away for an error but Seager popped up to first. Sox manager Alex Cora wanted Adam Ottavino to face France and Adam struck him out swinging to end the inning.
Diego Castillo came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Dalbec went down hacking to start. Christian Vazquez pinch hit for Plawecki and struck out swinging as well. Travis Shaw pinch hit for Iglesias and popped up to short to end the inning. Jack Lopez took over for Shaw at second to start the bottom of the ninth and Toro popped up to short to start. Fraley lined out to short and Jake Bauers pinch hit for Moore. Bauers was hit with a pitch and stole second, but Kelenic struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the tenth with Erik Swanson on the mound and Lopez starting at second base. Verdugo got a base hit to left and Lopez scored on a passed ball, moving Verdugo to second. Renfroe walked and Bogaerts got a base hit to center to load the bases. Justus Sheffield came in to pitch to Devers and Rafael forced Verdugo at home. Martinez singled in the hole at short to score Renfroe and Schwarber got a base hit to right to score Bogaerts and Devers. Yohan Ramirez came in and Dalbec walked to once again re-load the bases. Vazquez doubled to right to Martinez and Schwarber to ice the game. Lopez struck out swinging and Verdugo flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-3.
Martin Perez came in to close out the bottom of the tenth with Kelenic on second to start. Murphy struck out swinging but Kelenic took third on a balk. Crawford grounded out to short but Kelenic scored to cut the lead. Haniger struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 9-4 in 10 innings.
Sox win
Hero Schwarber
Hero of The Night is Kyle Schwarber. His two run single put the game out of reach for Seattle.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3.
Bobby Dalbec was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 2 with 2 rbis.
Jose Iglesias was 2 for 2 with a walk and an rbi.
Josh Taylor got the final two outs of the fifth inning.
Garrett Richards tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Austin Davis got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Adam Ottavino got the win with 1 1/3 scoreles innings.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3.
Travis Shaw was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Tanner Houck allowed 3 runs in 4 1/3 innings off 4 hits and a walk.
Martin Perez allowed a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout and an error but walked, hit a home run and scored two runs.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but scored a run.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a strikeout and an error but walked and scored a run.
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Jack Lopez was 0 for 1 at the plate but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That was a huge win for the Sox to keep pace in the wild card chase with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. The Sox have just 14 games remaining and they need to win every game they can to make the playoffs. Its very unlikely they win the AL East but they're right in the thick of things in the wild card hunt. This win pushed the Mariners to four games behind them so they might be out of it. The Sox blew the game open in the 10th but hats off to the bullpen to keep the game tied to get to that point after Houck left the game. Once again Alex Cora pulled a starter too early but it worked out this time. The bullpen is going to have nothing left for October but they have to get there first. Its too bad Jose Iglesias is ineligible for the post-season roster because he's been a godsend since they got him back after eight years away. The Sox need to go on a win streak if they want to lock up October or else they may be on the outside looking in. The win improved the Sox to 83-65, 8 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Friday night when they return home to face the Baltimore Orioles. Chris Sale (3-0) goes for the Sox against Keegan Akin of Baltimore. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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